Raiders make surprising release that will lead to $35.2 million battle, plus takeaways from training camp

Welcome to the Friday edition of the Pick Six newsletter!

This is it! We officially survived the offseason. As we close out this week, I’d like everyone to know that this was our final week without football until February. We have the Hall of Fame Game next week, and then after that, the rest of the NFL preseason will kick off and then the regular season will be here, then the playoffs will be here and before you know it, I’ll be writing this newsletter while hanging upside down from the Golden Gate Bridge as we get ready to prepare for Super Bowl 60 in the Bay Area. But let’s not get ahead of ourselves. 

We’ve got a lot to cover today, so let’s get to the rundown. 

As always, here’s your daily reminder to tell all your friends to sign up for the newsletter. To get them signed up, all you have to do is click here. Let’s get to the rundown. 

1. Training camp takeaways: Aaron Rodgers’ first pass is picked, Joe Burrow rebounds from bad day

Going into today, every team in the NFL has had at least one training camp practice so we thought now would be a good time to put out some early takeaways based on what we’ve seen so far.

The Steelers held their first practice of training camp on Thursday, so let’s start our takeaways there with Bryan DeArdo’s observations from Latrobe, Pa. 

• Aaron Rodgers got off to a rough start. While he occasionally showed flashes of his Hall of Fame potential, Rodgers’ afternoon included numerous plays that were short of the mark, starting with an interception to Patrick Queen on his first pass of training camp (You can see the pick here). Rodgers showed some visible frustration during practice. DeArdo has more takeaways from Steelers’ training camp and you can check them out here.   
• Joe Burrow rebounds from bad practice. Make what you will about the first week of training camp, but Joe Burrow was none too pleased how the offense looked following Wednesday’s first practice of training camp. The Bengals quarterback took matters into his own hands on Thursday, hitting Tee Higgins on a skinny post play for a touchdown and a perfect back-shoulder throw to Jermaine Burton in the practice (per the Bengals website). The Bengals offense is arguably the best in the league when Burrow is hot. He was scorching Thursday. — Jeff Kerr 
• Falcons might actually use Kyle Pitts. Michael Penix Jr. is entering his first year as the starting quarterback for the Falcons. He’s not shying away from Kyle Pitts, the tight end who had a historic rookie season but has been essentially forgotten since. Per the Falcons website, Penix hit Pitts on a 25-yard completion on an out route in the first play of the 11-on-11 session. There were plenty of targets heading Pitts’ way throughout the practice. Penix admitted after the practice there was “gonna be a lot of that.” He’s making sure everyone is noticing. — Jeff Kerr 

We’ve got a lot more training camp takeaways, and you can check them out here. 

2. Raiders make surprising release: Christian Wilkins set to battle team in $35.2 million showdown

The most surprising move from Thursday came from the Raiders, who decided to cut ties with Christian Wilkins, just 18 months after signing him to a four-year, $110 million contract in free agency that included $84.75 million in guaranteed money. 

Wilkins was one of the Raiders’ biggest signings in free agency last year, so for him to be out after just one season is a total shocker. So what happened? 

Here’s what you need to know: 

• How the drama started. Wilkins suffered a Jones fracture in his foot last season, which caused him to miss 12 games. The defensive tackle underwent surgery in October shortly after suffering the injury and that’s where things get dicey. According to NFL Media, the Raiders wanted Wilkins to undergo a second surgery, but he refused to do it, which led to his release. Wilkins got cut with the old “failure to maintain his physical condition to play,” designation, which isn’t used that often in the NFL. That designation allows the team to void his guarantees. 
• Raiders release a scathing statement. After releasing him on Thursday, the Raiders released a statement explaining the move and they didn’t hold back. “This franchise has a commitment of excellence on and off the field. With no clear path or plan for future return to play from Christian, this transaction is necessary for the entire organization to move forward and prepare for a new season.” Yikes. 
• Raiders going after Wilkins’ money. Wilkins contract included $85 million in guaranteed money. The Raiders have already paid out just over $49 million, however, they don’t plan on paying him the rest. The team believes he violated his contract, which would void the remaining $35.25 million in guarantees. Wilkins has filed a grievance through the NFLPA, which will now set up a showdown for the remaining money. 

We’ve got the full details on this bizarre situation here. 

3. Why the Patriots might be able to rebound after an ugly 2024 season

If there’s one team out there that could surprise everyone in 2025, it’s New England. The Patriots will be hoping to become this year’s version of the Commanders. In 2023, Washington went 4-13, but just one year later, they rebounded with a 12-5 season where they made it all the way to the NFC title game. 

Can the Patriots do the same thing? Tyler Sullivan broke down a few reasons why the Patriots could be the NFL’s surprise team this year. 

• Injection of talent. No team spent more in free agency this offseason than New England. According to Spotrac, the club spent a total of roughly $360 million in free agent contracts, which included a league-high $196 million in total guarantees. That investment brought in the likes of defensive tackle Milton Williams, cornerback Carlton Davis, linebacker Robert Spillane, and pass rusher Harold Landry on the defensive side of the ball. Meanwhile, they bolstered the offensive line with right tackle Morgan Moses and added star wideout Stefon Diggs.
• Soft schedule. New England’s schedule is pretty soft compared to the rest of the league. According to their opponents’ combined over/under win total for the upcoming season (via Sharp Football Analysis), the Patriots are looking at the second-easiest schedule in the league. Even if you want to go by their opponents’ win percentage from 2024, New England is still looking at the third-easiest path in the NFL in 2025. 

You can check out Sullivan’s full breakdown of the Patriots here. 

4. Aaron Rodgers says there are only 10 to 12 teams that can win the Super Bowl

Not only did Aaron Rodgers participate in his first training camp practice with the Steelers on Thursday, but he also held his first press conference of camp and he had some interesting things to day. 

The most notable thing was probably the fact that 20 teams have already been eliminated from Super Bowl contention. According to Rodgers, only six to 12 are capable of winning the Lombardi Trophy in any given year. 

“I think most of the 32 teams would probably say something to that accord at this time of the year,” Rodgers said of teams believing they can win the Super Bowl, via ESPN. “But I think that there’s really only six to eight that really have a legitimate chance. Sometimes, it’s 10 to 12 and there’s teams that surprise you, but I would say on paper, we’re probably one of those 10 to 12.”

So Rodgers believes that 10 to 12 teams are capable of winning the Super Bowl this year and he thinks the Steelers are one of them. I took this as a personal challenge to make a list of the 12 teams that I think can win the Super Bowl this year. Let’s see if the Steelers made the cut: 

Well, look at that: The Steelers are on my list! Not only do I think the Steelers are a potential Super Bowl contender, but I think people are actually sleeping on them. This team went 10-7 last season with Justin Fields and Russell Wilson at quarterback. I think Rodgers is an upgrade from both of them and if he stays healthy, this is a team that could certainly surprise some people in 2025. 

5. What separates good quarterbacks from great quarterbacks? Joe Burrow has the answer

If you were to ask 100 football fans to rank the top five quarterbacks in the NFL right now, there’s a good chance that every single one of them would have Joe Burrow on their list. Since being taken with the first overall pick in the 2020 NFL Draft, Burrow has taken the Bengals to new heights: They’ve gone to two AFC title games and one Super Bowl in his five seasons as the starter. 

Burrow has played the game at a high level in the NFL for nearly a half of a decade, so if anyone knows what it takes to be a great quarterback, it’s him.

During his first training camp press conference this week, Burrow was actually asked what separates the good quarterbacks from the great quarterbacks and his answer was surprisingly simple: Consistency. 

• Burrow’s answer. “I think consistency is what it is at the end of the day,” Burrow said. “Anyone can go out and do it for a game, a couple games, four games, five games, but can you do it for 17 games? Can you do it for years and years in a row? I think that’s ultimately what separates the great ones from the good ones.”
• Quarterbacks who aren’t consistent. One example here is Bryce Young. After getting benched following a Week 2 loss last year, Young returned to the lineup in Week 8 and played solid football that culminated in a brilliant Week 18 performance that saw him throw for 251 yards and three touchdowns in a 44-38 win over the Falcons. Young finished with a QB rating of 123.5, but consistency was definitely an issue for him. That Week 18 performance was one of just three games all year where his QB rating was above 95. On the other hand, Burrow finished with a QB rating above 95 in 13 of his 17 starts. 
• Brock Purdy agrees with Burrow’s statement. Purdy came to understand how important consistency was after getting some words of wisdom from teammate George Kittle. “He goes, ‘Brocky, at the end of the day, you just have to be more consistent than the guy across from you and do better, longer,” Purdy said of what Kittle told him.

If you want to be successful in the NFL  over the long haul at any position, you have to be consistently good, which isn’t easy to do when you’re playing the most difficult position in the world (quarterback). Not many quarterbacks are consistent enough to be great, but Burrow is one of them and Purdy could soon be in that conversation with one or two more solid seasons. 

6. Extra points: Justin Fields avoids serious injury

It’s been a busy 24 hours the NFL, and since it’s nearly impossible to keep track of everything that happened, I went ahead and put together a roundup for you. 

• Fields listed as day to day. The Jets QB suffered a dislocated toe on Thursday and it doesn’t sound like he’s going to be out for very long. Fields, who’s listed as day to day, was on the field for the start of Jets’ practice on Friday. 
• Eight teams getting new uniforms in August. Every team in the AFC East and NFC West will be getting a new “Rivalries” uniform this year and those uniforms will be released on Aug. 28, so be sure to mark your calendar. 
• Dolphins corner to miss the season. The Dolphins took a hit at cornerback this week with the loss of Artie Burns. The veteran corner tore his ACL during practice on Wednesday and will now miss the entire 2025 season. We’ve got more details on the injury here.  
• Commanders new stadium could be approved next week. The Commanders are one step away from getting the approval they need for their $3.7 billion stadium project and that approval could come on Aug. 1. The Washington, D.C., council has to sign off on the project and although there has been some hesitation from the group, the Commanders agreed to several compromises this week, and now, it looks like the council is going to approve the project. You can read more about the situation here.  
• Packers bring back Nathaniel Hackett. After getting fired twice in the past three years, Nathaniel Hackett has managed to land on his feet. Hackett will be returning to Green Bay, where he’ll serve as a defensive analyst. Hackett was the Packers offensive coordinator from 2019 through 2021. Since leaving Green Bay, he’s been hired as the head coach of the Broncos and the OC for the Jets, but he was fired from both jobs. 
• Browns linebacker surprisingly retires. Jordan Hicks, who started 12 games for the Browns last season, has surprisingly decided to retire after 10 NFL seasons. Hicks had missed the first two days of training camp due to personal reasons and it appears he may have been deciding whether he wanted to continue playing in the NFL. Hicks entered the NFL as a third-round pick with the Eagles in 2015 and ended up winning a Super Bowl with them in 2017.